New Years Eve Celebration

What do you do for your New Years Eve Celebration? I have loved watching how the different countries around the world celebrate New Years Eve as it starts the evening out with some interesting celebrations.

We have some fun friends who live by us that host a New Years Eve celebration party at their home every year and invite many, many, many people.  It is filled with good food (potluck style), white elephant gift exchange and a fun game that some people really don’t like to play but are good sports about it.  This game brings out interesting information about your friends and neighbors.  They pass out index cards and pens to everyone. You then write 3 informational things down on the index card.  Two of the things are truths about you and 1 is a lie.  When everyone has their 3 things written down, you take turns reading your 3 things, and everyone else decides which thing about you is the lie.  We have also played this same game a little different, after everyone gets there 3 things written down, 1 person collects the index cards, shuffles them and then passes them out randomly, we then try to decide who the person is AND which thing is the lie.  You can really learn a lot about your friends and neighbors.  The hard part is that we have played it several years, and trying to think up new things is becoming quite challenging.

Our white elephant gift exchange is very simple.  All gifts are put in the middle of the floor, and it goes by birthday month.  For example, January birthdays go first, and each person with a January birthday pick a gift one at a time.  The first person opens their gift, then the second person can choose a gift from the pile in the middle of the floor or steal from someone who has already opened a gift.  After 3 steals the gift is safe from any future steals.  We have had some funny, funny gifts and some gifts that return year after year to be regifted.

Since we are all of the “getting older” generation, we usually end the part quite early, leaving plenty of time to enjoy the rest of your New Years Eve celebration as you wish.